I got into recording engineering and sound reinforcement because of a couple of different bands I listened to often in high school. One of them, The Eagles, are still one of my all time favorites. I could listen to their music for hours.

Listen to any Eagles album, I don’t care which one and take a moment to see if you can hear every instrument…. count the guitars, listen for the bass, for the tommy drums,  for the keys even the brass and percussion. It’s all there. You can hear every beat, every note, every strum. Without straining or struggling to make it out. It all blends together so well and at the same time can all be heard as distinct instruments and voices. Awesome!!

Now, tell me the engineer’s name. You can’t, can you. That’s great engineering. You can hear every nuance of these great musicians’ music but you never notice the "production". They never sounded over-produced or over-anything. Just great music. That’s a great engineer.

And that’s the kind of music I want to be a part of. You need great musicians to make great music. But you also need a great engineer to not screw it all up in the recording and mixdown process. That’s what I wanted to be. That’s what I still strive to be, every time I mix.

Tonight I happened upon an NBC special of the Eagles "farewell" tour. And I’m reminded once again of what excellent, awesome, amazing music is all about. And I think longingly again of working in a recording studio, able to just be a part of making something as great and beautiful as an Eagles album.

I love music!